British Industrial Sand PGA in N (Part 1)…

I recognise that working on locomotives and wagons is something of a tonic for me - and whilst I enjoy creating layouts, the act of modifying a kit or ready to run model to create a unique and somewhat personal model is of great comfort to me…

When Cavalex announced they were going to release their first OO wagon, the Redland PGA in N I was excited and a little disappointed. They were a prototype that as far as I understand only ran in fixed ‘company’ rakes. More though, at nearly £90 they weren’t cheap.

In recent months Rails have been selling their remaining stocks at a small discount and so it’s now possible to pick a three pack up for just under £70. Equally my confidence in messing around with expensive models in N has increased. I remembered seeing photos of British Industrial Sand PGAs in shorter formations in Speedlink trains running from Holmethorpe near Redhill to Warrington.

A sketch, above, showed whilst it wouldn’t be 100% accurate the Redland wagon could probably be modified to represent the BIS example. I intended to represent one in the late 80a by which point the roof and actuators had been removed.

The Cavalex wagons are well detailed but moulded in faily fragile plastic, so be careful if you’re following in my footsteps. Removing the details I didn’t need and stripping the sides off the hopper allowed me to clean up some of the mould release flash marks too… then the sides were modified to a new profile with careful cuts from a craft knife.

I smoothed the ends of the hopper with the same knife and some sanding sticks before re-assembling the sides. Overlays if 10 thou styrene were added, filled and smoothed. A section of micro strip was let in to the (incorrect 3, should be 2) end bracing between the lower ‘nick’ in the side profile. On the chassis brake levers and the steps at one end were removed.

Posed with the forthcoming Dick Hardy and an unmodified example I think it holds promise. I need to add the brake wheels, remains of the door opening mechanism and end protective screens between my new bracing bar and the buffer beam. There are things I’m not addressing… the end supports if the hopper already mentioned are wrong and the side supports are a slightly different profile. Like is too short to worry, and I think trying to modify these repeat parts is not worth the effort. Modifying a RTR or kit model is something where you need to embrace the compromise otherwise you may as well have started from scratch!

What of the other Redland pair? I think I’ll do two in BIS guise and the third, remove the hopper entirely and scratch-build a Tullis Russell example - these had a much steeper angled hopper which changed the proportions too much. 

The ‘Speedlink’ collection grows, my stock box groans… but still no plan for a larger N scale layout yet. For now, next time, more soon…

Support my work

I love writing and creating material for the blog. If you enjoy what you read and engage with I would be appreciative of any donation, large or small, to help me keep it advert and restriction free. Alternatively, feel free to buy me a coffee, where regular memberships start from just £1.